North and South Block

The North and South blocks situated across each other on the Raisina hill represents the commanding attitude of the nation's capital. It houses the headquarters of the government offices and the Delhi assembly.

History

The north and south blocks were introduced as the two secretariat buildings when the british relocated the government offices to north and south blocks in New Delhi. The buildings designed by the Edwin Lutiyen and Herbert Baker. The secretariat buildings were built in the designs of the imposition of superiority of the white masters over the natives.

Description

The north and south blocks of the secretariats comprises of the major offices of the government of India.

The main offices of the north block are:

Ministry of Finance

Ministry of home affairs

The south block offices comprises of:

Ministry of Defense

Ministry of External Affairs

The Prime Minister's office

The secretariat buildings of the north and south block are made of rose pink and pale yellow sandstone. The structure of the buildings gives a hint of the Mughal and Rajputana style. Both buildings are ornamented with stone screens which are known as ‘ jali'. The buildings are provided with slants along the roof that shelters the artwork of the building from heat and monsoonal showers. The government of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa donated the four Dominion columns that stand within the Great court. The centre of the court is adorned by the Jaipur Column of red sandstone with structures of a white egg, bronze lotus and six-pointed glass star of India.

How to Get There

Tourists can avail local buses, taxis and auto rickshaws from different points within the city. Visitors are required to receive permission and a visitor's pass to enter the compounds of the secretariat building.